On the Media

• The Republican Party's 'Civil War'

  Back in October, Nick Fuentes, the Gen Z white nationalist influencer, was trending in the news after a leaked Young Republicans chat revealed how his ideas were taking hold in some conservative circles. Then, just a week or so later, Fuentes sat down for an interview with Tucker Carlson. That 2-hour interview triggered a crisis amongst the GOP’s top brass that pitted major conservative influencers against each other, and garnered headlines declaring the start of a Republican “civil war.” For this midweek podcast extra, host Micah Loewinger called up Zack Beauchamp, senior correspondent for Vox, to wade through the fallout around Fuentes and Carlson, and break down what this tells us about antisemitism in American politics.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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• S2 - Episode 2: The Harvard Plan

  Millions of dollars in federal grants have been terminated, throwing cutting-edge research at American universities into crisis. On this week’s On the Media, meet the two men at the center of the fight over the future of academia.[0:00] Harvard president Alan Garber and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya are at the heart of the national fight over the future of academia. Alan Garber has been cast as the defender of academic freedom and democracy; Jay Bhattacharya is Donald Trump’s pick to lead the NIH, the agency withholding billions of dollars in research grants from Harvard. Oddly enough, the two men go way back: Garber was Bhattacharya’s undergraduate thesis adviser and mentor in the late 1980s. This episode tells the story of how the two men found themselves adversaries — and what it means for the future of science.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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• Do Moderates Win More Elections?

  Zohran Mamdani has won the 2025 New York City mayoral race, with a higher turnout of voters than New York has seen in decades. This despite the fact that New York’s senators — Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand — did not back Mamdani, and House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries waited until the day before early voting began to endorse the Democratic nominee.Mamdani’s divided party support reflects an intensifying argument over whether Democratic candidates must move closer to the political center  - or further away - in order to win. Brooke speaks with Elliott Morris, a journalist, statistician, and author of the data-driven news website Strength in Numbers, about what the numbers say around moderation and why it might not be the silver bullet Democratic strategists seemed to crave.Further reading:Moderation is not a silver bullet, by Elliott MorrisThe Strategist’s Fallacy in American politics, by Elliott Morris  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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• The Harvard Plan is Back. Episode 1: And So It Begins...

  President Trump is compelling universities across the country to adopt a more conservative agenda in exchange for access to federal funds. On this week’s On the Media, how this pressure campaign is playing out at the oldest and richest university in America: Harvard.[0:00] Our latest collaboration with the Boston Globe is Season Two of The Harvard Plan, in which reporter Ilya Marritz explores what has unfolded at Harvard University since Donald Trump’s inauguration. Three members of the university community tell the story: Ryan Enos, a political scientist, Kamila Naxerova, a genetics professor and cancer researcher, and Kit Parker, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve and professor of bioengineering and applied physics.     On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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• S2 - Episode 1: The Harvard Plan

  The Harvard Plan - our collaboration with the Boston Globe, is back! In episode one, we hear what unfolded at Harvard from Donald Trump’s inauguration to convocation 2025. Three main characters, inside Harvard, tell the story from their perspective: politics professor Ryan Enos, genetics professor and cancer researcher Kamila Naxerova and campus conservative Kit Parker, lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve and Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at Harvard. The personal perspectives of our three guides are interwoven with the dramatic timeline and unfolding news.  On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

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